River Birch - Betula nigra
I love the ragged bark of river birch! Some people don't like this tree because it is messy and has large, sprawling roots. I often see it growing along riverbanks along with sycamore.
River birch has many potential uses: fuel, furniture building, making baskets, making birch beer from fermented sap, etc.
Habitat: Riverbank; mixed forest
''Betula nigra'' is a species of birch native to the Eastern United States from New Hampshire west to southern Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and west to Texas. It is one of the few heat-tolerant birches in a family of mostly cold-weather trees which do not thrive in USDA Zone 6 and up. ''B. nigra'' commonly occurs in flood plains and/or swamps.
It is a deciduous tree growing to 25 to 30 metres with a trunk 50 to 150 centimetres in diameter, often with multiple trunks. The bark is.. more
